Goodbye Greece

I'm sad as I write this, we are now leaving the last port before we dock for the end of the cruise in Venice. The cruise is not over, but the port visits are and this is probably the last entry. Tomorrow is a sea day and we arrive in Venice on Thursday afternoon and as busy as I will be with one tour after another, I doubt I'll write that night and then I'll be off the ship early on Friday morning for one more tour and then a trip to the airport where I'll get a shuttle to my hotel for a day in Venice and then leave for home the following morning. This has been so much in so short a time, a feast for my eyes and mind, but exhausting all the same. Time flies on a busy trip like this one and so many emotions are stirring inside...

But, now to the day in Greece...we arrived in the port city of Pireaus, again my spelling may be off, but we took the drive into Athens, what a crowded busy city it is! On one busy one way street, one of the typical little cars came the wrong way down the street to avoid the traffic!! There wasn't even a look of concern as he approached our large tour bus, he just pulled around us, I would have sworn he wouldn't fit, but he did and he proceeded the wrong direction!! That was the first time I've seen anything like that! People just park their cars and leave them when they want to and there was one parked in the middle of a turn and a man was out yelling at traffic as cars had to back up because they couldn't get through. Amazing that we didn't see one accident the whole day! So after an interesting, to say the least, drive, we made our first stop at the Temple of Zeus. Incredible sight, the large columns that are still standing. I decided not to stand and listen to the tour guide, she was quite dry and boring, and I walked around getting pictures of the magnificent remains. So amazing and so ancient! I asked a couple of people to take my picture with the ruins behind me and I think that people should be forced to take a photography class before boarding the ship for a trip like this, in all but one picture the people got more of the cement and gravel ground than the columns behind me. Very much like the picture of César and I at Nordkapp, such a disappointment. I should have said something or made a point of checking, but I believed that people would know how to get a picture in a famous place with famous ruins. Wrong, Mitzi! So I will know from now on to be specific! Oh well, at least one picture came out. From this location we could see the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Stunning on the hill in the middle of the town.

After this stop we went to a hotel to have refreshments, tea and a plate of Greek cookies and pastries, nothing exceptional like I had in Mykonos, but nice. We drove down Amalea Avenue, named after the first Queen of Greece, who was from Bavaria. We drove through the city and finally went to the pedestrian walk below the Acropolis. I snuck into a gift shop so I could bring home a small statue of Athena and purchased a couple of other little souvenirs and told them about my Greek friend in Houston and they gave me a religious magnet to give Mary. Again, such big hearts they have in Greece! There were so many people and it was so different than the relaxing beautiful setting in Mykonos.

We saw very large plants in a little truck in front of us and the guide explained that the gypsies drive through the streets with a loud speaker announcing the sale of plants so housewifes can come out and choose one for a small cost. We passed many important buildings and at one there was a big ceremony to place wreaths at the site of the grave of the unknown soldier. It was quite a production and I was sorry we couldn't stop and watch the whole event. There were Greek soldiers in their holiday white skirts and they looked quite important. She explained that all of the guards had to be 6'2" so that they matched when standing at their posts AND they had to have nice legs since they wear 'minis', as she put it! Who'd have thought about that?? And I will admit that they did look quite nice standing at their posts! Again there were stray dogs, but I was assured that they are cared for and indeed they did look better than some in other places. So different than in the United States! And there weren't more than a few at each place we visited and they were calm and happy, it seemed.

I did enjoy the information that the tour guide gave us, when I was listening. Do you know where the name Marathon for the races came from? Sometime in the BC years, there was a war between Persia and Greece called the Marathon war and when the war was over one man was sent to give news of the war and he ran all the way to Greece, said 'we have won the war' and collapsed and died. Ever since there have been marathon races to honor this young man. This guide also shared many important things that Greece gave to the world and said that the rise of Christianity was the one thing that created the fall of Greece. She said that the schools of Plato and Aristotle helped to revive the Greek influence in about 600 AD.

And so my visit to Athens and Greece is over for this trip. What a wonderful experience and I know that someday I will be back in Mykonos for a longer visit. What kind people and the most beautiful place! Maybe I need to start learning Greek for that visit! I've already written César and although he said he would love to go with me, he reminded me that Greek is one language he doesn't speak! Oh well, I'm sure we would be fine anyway! I told him to start learning it now! And I do have my new Greek friend there and many people spoke English.

Ah, my dreams!

And now we head to Venice, the promised highlight of the trip. Sailing into Venice is supposed to be the most incredible sight of the entire cruise. This is the reason César wanted me to take this cruise, and although he had seen it more than once, I will be sad that he is not with me, this is the one thing he wanted to do with me, he wanted to be with me when I saw Venice for the first time since it is supposed to be such an incredible experience. But he is busy back in Portugal in school and working and is just glad that I will get to see it. And so, Venice awaits!